Origins

In a meeting with Dr Kwame Nkrumah in 1958 Mr Ohene Djan, chairman of the Ghana Amateur Football Association,
announced the intention of his association to compete in the Olympic Games. Dr Nkrumah encouraged this and
pointed out that he thought it would be a good idea to institute a regional competition for West Africa,
promising that he would donate a gold cup as the trophy for such a competition.
Mr Djan visited Nigeria, Senegal, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast to garner support for the idea, and on
Saturday 28th March 1959, at the Ambassador Hotel in Accra, a conference was held with the aim of establishing
a West African federation, the main purpose of which was to administer the competition for the Nkrumah Gold Cup.
The conference was opened by Dr Nkrumah himself, and was presided over by Mr Kojo Botsio, president of the G.A.F.A.
Ghana was represented by Mr Jellico Quaye and Mr Sam Blankson, as well as Mr Djan and Mr Botsio, while overseas
delegates included Mr François Chablis, Mr Raymond Sienner and Mr Benjamin Monnou of Dahomey, Mr Theodore Magna
of Cameroon, Mr Eben Thomas of Gambia, Mr Jean Bléhouet and Mr Yamga Mathurin of Ivory Coast,
Mr Reginald B. 'Darby' Allen and Mr Efiom Edem Okon of Nigeria, Mr Mohamed Abderrahmane of Mauritania,
Mr Soumah Sékou of Guinea, Mr Rito Alcantara and Mr Edouard Goraieb of Senegal, Dr Jorge Tavares Sousa
of Portuguese Guinea, Mr E.B. Williams of Sierra Leone, and Mr Amorin and Mr Placcas of Togo.
Liberia was represented by an observer from the Liberian embassy.

The result of the conference was the West African Soccer Federation. Dr Kwame Nkrumah was elected as
life patron, and Mr Kojo Botsio as president.
Mr R.B. Allen of Nigeria and Mr Rito Alcantara of Senegal were named vice presidents, and Mr Ohene Djan
was elected secretary-treasurer. Four zonal representatives were also elected as follows: Mr Amorin
(Togo, Zone A), Mr Jean Bléhouet (Ivory Coast, Zone B), Mr Soumah Sékou (Guinea, Zone C),
and Dr Jorge Tavares Sousa (Portuguese Guinea, Zone D). It was decided that the headquarters would be
at Accra. Five additional countries were included: Fernando Póo (now Equatorial Guinea), Niger,
Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), French Sudan (now Mali), and Cape Verde.

The preliminary rounds of the competition were arranged zonally for geographical convenience:

Zone A: Nigeria, Dahomey, Togo, Cameroon, Fernando Póo

Zone B: Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger, Upper Volta

Zone C: Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Mali

Zone D: Senegal, Portuguese Guinea, Gambia, Cape Verde

The four zone champions would then play in the finals. The tournament was planned to be held
biennially, with the first "trial" edition to be held in 1959 with finals in Ghana (these were later
delayed until early 1960). The first competition "proper" would take place in 1960 with finals in
October in Nigeria to coincide with Nigerian independence.

The Nkrumah Gold Cup is not to be confused with the Osagyefo Cup (a trophy also donated by Dr Nkrumah)
which became the prize for the African Champions' Cup (for clubs, not national teams).

Following the 1963 tournament it was announced that the finals of the next edition would
be held in Lagos in 1965. These were postponed to December 1966, then to March 1967.
Presumably the tournament was abandoned altogether but this has not yet been confirmed.
Qualifying Tournament
The only known results are (Zone C):
12-11-1966 Sierra Leone 1-1 Liberia [at Freetown]
[Kabineh Kabba 90' pen / Mass Sarr 59']
19-11-1966 Liberia 2-0 Sierra Leone [at Monrovia]
[?] [HT 0-0]
Note: the match was abandoned a few minutes before full-time due to fighting
following a protest by Sierra Leone that it was too dark to see the ball.